Judith Butler Compared TERFs To Fascists In An Excellent New Article

Acclaimed philosopher and public intellectual Judith Butler has written an incisive and passionate op-ed for The Guardian, in which they compare the modern TERF movement to fascism.

Butler emerged as a significant force in modern feminism with the publication of their book Gender Trouble. That work, a dense treatise that argued gender is a form of performance rather than a biological state, is one of the most influential texts of the last 40 years.

In it, Butler moves away from the biological essentialism of those who came before her — those that would say there is a stable, ahistorical marker of identity known as “femininity” — and develops a contingent picture of gender. For Butler, it is possible to re-describe one’s gender, the same way that one can re-describe any aspect of their personality.

Such beliefs put Butler in opposition to those TERFs — trans exclusionary radical feminists — who argue that transition is impossible, and that gender is fixed, rather than fluid.

In their Guardian article, Butler notes the messiness and inconsistency of the TERF ideology.

“It is not easy to fully reconstruct the arguments used by the anti-gender ideology movement because they do not hold themselves to standards of consistency or coherence,” writes Butler.”They assemble and launch incendiary claims in order to defeat what they see as ‘gender ideology’ or ‘gender studies’ by any rhetorical means necessary.

“For instance, they object to ‘gender’ because it putatively denies biological sex or because it undermines the natural or divine character of the heteronormative family.”

Elsewhere in the article, Butler separates the TERF ideology from other conservative arguments that have come before it, calling the trend a “fascist” one.

“The anti-gender movement is not a conservative position with a clear set of principles,” they write. “No, as a fascist trend, it mobilises a range of rhetorical strategies from across the political spectrum to maximise the fear of infiltration and destruction that comes from a diverse set of economic and social forces. It does not strive for consistency, for its incoherence is part of its power.

It is far from the first time that Judith Butler has spoken out against the TERF movement. In a widely shared interview, the writer took down author J.K. Rowling and her exclusionary allies, pushing back against the notion that calling someone a TERF should be considered the slinging of a slur.

“I wonder what name self-declared feminists who wish to exclude trans women from women’s spaces would be called?” asks Butler. “If they do favour exclusion, why not call them exclusionary? If they understand themselves as belonging to that strain of radical feminism that opposes gender reassignment, why not call them radical feminists?